Purify Yourselves as God is Pure

1 John 3 ESV

 

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

 

Not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is a true child of God. For, we read in 1 John 1 that if we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness (sin), we lie and do not practice the truth. And in 1 John 2 we read that whoever says he knows Jesus but does not keep (obey) his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. And it also says that whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

 

Also in 1 John 2 we read that we are not to love (prefer, long for) the world or the things in the world, for if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world. And then it says that you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness (that is of God) has been born of God.

 

And then here in 1 John 3 it essentially says that if we are God’s legitimate children then the world should not be intimately acquainted with us. And why is that? It is because all that is in the world is not from the Father but is of the flesh and it is of the lusts of the flesh and of the pride of life. And we are to have no part in the desires of the flesh now that we are in Christ by faith in him, for everyone who hopes in Jesus purifies himself as God is pure.

 

Do you get what that is saying? You can’t walk in habitual and deliberate sin and be a legitimate child of God. If you choose to not obey our Lord’s commandments (New Covenant), you cannot be a legitimate child of God. And if hate towards others is what you practice, and deliberate and habitual sin against others is hate, then you are not in God and he is not in you. And if you prefer the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life to walking in moral purity and in holiness, your hope in Jesus is false.

 

1 John 3:4-10 ESV

 

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

 

All Sin

 

Now, this applies to all sin. If sin is what we practice (deliberately and habitually), we are not of God but of the devil. We are not born of God for we are still of the flesh. We are not in fellowship with him. He is not listening to our prayers. We are just going through the motions of religious practice, but Christ has no place in our hearts, for our hearts are still given over to the lusts of the flesh and not to walks of obedience to our Lord.

 

And it isn’t just John who taught this. Paul taught the same thing. You just have to read all his words and not just cherry pick the ones you like taken out of context. For no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. You can’t be addicted to sin and be a child of God. And I am not saying this, the Scriptures are. And this is not saying you will never sin (see 1 Jn 2:1-2), but that you should no longer be living in slavery to sin.

 

Now you should be slaves of God and of his righteousness. Now righteousness should be what you practice, and if you do, then you are righteous in God’s sight. But if you don’t, you are not of God, nor is the one who does not love his fellow humans. For if you hate, in practice – and habitual and deliberate sin against others is hate – then you are not a child of God. So heaven is not your eternal destiny. Hell is.

 

Specific Sin

 

The most prominent sin in the church today, and probably the most talked about sin in the Scriptures, for it shows up in most lists of sins and it is included in most chastisements against God’s people, is that of sexual immorality, which can take on many different forms. And that sin appears to be the one today that most people are addicted to, including most men claiming faith in Jesus Christ and nearly half of all pastors, according to porn statistics, yet this is not limited just to pornography addiction.

 

Jesus said that to lust after another to whom we are not married is adultery. And this can take place watching romantic movies or any movies with romantic and/or sexual situations in them. People can get caught up in the movies and identify with the characters, and they can easily end up lusting after an actor on the screen and wishing they had what he or she had. So, it doesn’t have to be pornography for it to be wrong. And this can take place listening to secular music, too, especially romantic songs.

 

But sexual immorality isn’t just about a person sinning against God. Usually it is about sinning against another human, and many spouses today are the ones being sinned against, and yet the church appears to pay not much attention to the wounded spouses. If they do anything at all about sexual addiction, they may have a support group for the men, not that all addicts are men, for some are women, too, but little to nothing is being done for the spouses. So if the sinned against decide to stay with their spouses, they end up with broken marriages and adulterous spouses who do not love them.

 

And this is what we need to understand here, in light of everything we have read in 1 John, but also in the writings of Paul and the other apostles, and in light of the teachings of Jesus. If you are addicted to sexual immorality and if you are married, what you are doing to your spouse is hate, not love. If you are fantasizing about other women (or men) sexually, and if you are watching movies or videos which stir your minds and emotions to lusting after someone else, that is hate, and it is cruel, and it is abuse.

 

And if you are self-gratifying, that is lusting after oneself and it is having sexual relations with oneself, and that is still sin, and it is still adultery, because you are choosing self over your mate. You are one with yourself, not with God, and not with your spouse. Yet, you do not sin to yourself alone. This is not just your little problem. This is adultery and it is hate and it is cruel and it is abuse, and if this is the course you choose, you do not love God or your spouse and you do not know God and salvation is not yours and heaven is not your eternal destiny.

 

For, you can’t play religion and put on an act of righteousness while you are deliberately and habitually sinning against God and against your spouse. And especially if your spouse knows and he or she has been asking you to stop and to change and to love him or her and to be faithful, but you continue in your addiction, you don’t love God or your spouse. And you are a hypocrite if you act like you are a good Christian in front of other people.

 

So, stop with the hypocrisy, and stop sinning against God and your spouse, and against other people, and obey the Lord, and forsake your sins, and love God, and love your fellow humans. And then you have eternal life with God.

 

He Lifted Our Burdens

 

An Original Work / February 15, 2014

Based off Isaiah 9:2-7

 

People walk in darkness.

They abide in their sin.

It has power o’er them.

True belief escapes them.

 

Jesus Christ came to save them.

He gave His life up for them;

Crucified; died for our sin,

So we might be forgiven,

And have life up in heaven.

 

Many come to know Him.

God’s love now o’erflows them.

They rejoice in vict’ry.

Their sin is but hist’ry.

 

We were once bound in slav’ry.

Jesus lifted our burdens;

Set us now free from Satan,

So we now walk in freedom.

Sin has no more dominion.

 

Praise be to our Savior!

He showed us His favor.

He took all our burdens;

Cast them all upon Him.

 

He is our mediator;

The Light which shines in darkness.

Counselor in our troubles;

He gives peace now in our hearts;

Joy which is everlasting.

 

https://vimeo.com/86854416

Gospel Messengers Under Attack

Last night, I was getting ready to go to bed, and so I was brushing my teeth. The right upper side of my mouth has been hurting lately, above my teeth, in my gums. My right hand/fingers have been hurting lately, too, and my right knee and my right foot have been hurting for several months.

 

So, I got thinking about all of this from a spiritual perspective, because the Lord sometimes uses my real life situations as parables. Right is righteous. The mouth is used to speak words. The hands represent our deeds, and I use my fingers to type devotions every day. The knee is representative of prayer and of submission to God, where we bow before him in humility. And the foot represents our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, as well as having feet fitted with the gospel. So, spiritually speaking, this is about the spreading of the gospel, and it is under attack, as are its messengers.

 

So, the righteous are being attacked in the words that they speak by the Spirit, in the works that they do in the power of God, and under his direction, in their submission to Christ as Lord, in their walks of faith in Jesus Christ, and in their testimonies for Jesus Christ and for his gospel.

 

And the Lord is allowing me to feel this pain, I believe, as a parable, but also to remind me of all my brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world who are suffering persecution for the sake of righteousness and for the sake of the gospel, so that I will pray for them, and so that I will encourage them to persevere and to not give up, for their work will be rewarded.

 

2 Corinthians 5:11-15 ESV

 

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

 

Do you know the fear of the Lord? Not just intellectually, but are you walking in the fear of the Lord? Does your walk of faith show that you revere God, that you honor him as Lord, that you are living in submission to him, and that you are obeying him in doing his will? Do you show him respect? Are you dying to sin and walking in obedience to him daily? Are you, by the Spirit, putting away the deeds of the flesh, and are you walking by the Spirit? Do you take God and his commands (New Covenant) to heart?

 

If you are, are you then trying to persuade others to believe in Jesus and to walk in the fear of the Lord? Are you sharing your testimony of your walk of faith in Jesus Christ, i.e. regarding your present and active walk of faith in Jesus day by day? Are you sharing with others the gospel that Jesus taught, and that his New Testament Apostles taught (in context)? Are you calling sinners to repent of (to turn away from) their sin to follow Jesus in obedience to his ways and to his commands (New Covenant)?

 

If you are walking in the fear of the Lord, and if you are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, and if you are calling them to repentance and to obedient faith in Jesus Christ, then you are most likely being attacked in the words that you speak and in your walk of faith and in the works that you do in the power of God’s Spirit and in your submission to Christ as Lord.

 

Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake

 

For, the predominant gospel being taught and pushed in today’s market-driven institutional churches here in America is a diluted gospel which makes no demands for submission to Christ as Lord or for the forsaking of sins or for walks of obedience to Jesus Christ. But they teach that you can “believe” (not defined) in Jesus Christ, have your sins forgiven, be guaranteed heaven as your eternal destiny, but that you can continue in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience and without guilt and without punishment.

 

So, they are also on the all out attack against those of us who are walking in the fear of the Lord, who honor him as Lord, who are putting sin to death, and who are walking in the Spirit in obedience to the Lord. And they are accusing us falsely of teaching works-based salvation and of being self-righteous and of being legalistic and prideful and hateful, etc. But we are teaching what Jesus taught and what Paul and the other apostles taught.

 

And Paul came under much scrutiny and persecution for the things that he taught, too. And he was accused falsely, and he had many who were opposing him and who were trying to discredit him, for they wanted to turn the people away from him and his teaching. And so he frequently was put in situations where he had to defend his words and actions against these false accusations so that the truth of the gospel would not be discredited.

 

But even through all that Paul suffered for the sake of the gospel, his message did not change. He continued to teach that Jesus Christ died on that cross that we who live might no longer live for ourselves but for him who for our sake died and was raised. He taught that faith in Jesus Christ means we die with Christ to sin and that we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him in moral purity, holiness and righteousness. And he taught that we must forsake our sins and obey our Lord in practice.

 

And he also taught that if we do not die with Christ to sin, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and if we do not honor him as Lord, but we continue to be lord of our own lives, and if we do not obey him in practice, but sin is what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. And that is why he was attacked on a regular basis, and why he was persecuted, because he taught what people today are falsely calling “works-based salvation.”

 

But many people are hailing him as their hero because they don’t read all that he taught, and they think he taught a grace that forgives them of their sins so that they can keep on sinning without punishment. But Jesus died to put our sins to death, not just on that cross, but in our lives. He died to free us from our addiction to sin, not to pacify us in our sin. And he demands submission, repentance, and walks of obedience of his followers.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

He Lifted Our Burdens

 

An Original Work / February 15, 2014

Based off Isaiah 9:2-7

 

People walk in darkness.

They abide in their sin.

It has power o’er them.

True belief escapes them.

 

Jesus Christ came to save them.

He gave His life up for them;

Crucified; died for our sin,

So we might be forgiven,

And have life up in heaven.

 

Many come to know Him.

God’s love now o’erflows them.

They rejoice in vict’ry.

Their sin is but hist’ry.

 

We were once bound in slav’ry.

Jesus lifted our burdens;

Set us now free from Satan,

So we now walk in freedom.

Sin has no more dominion.

 

Praise be to our Savior!

He showed us His favor.

He took all our burdens;

Cast them all upon Him.

 

He is our mediator;

The Light which shines in darkness.

Counselor in our troubles;

He gives peace now in our hearts;

Joy which is everlasting.

 

https://vimeo.com/86854416

The Hope to Which He has Called You

Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

 

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

 

Eyes of Hearts Enlightened

 

The first thing that comes to mind here is the calling that Jesus Christ gave Paul “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).

 

And this goes right along with what Jesus quoted about himself from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

 

And then Jesus said this, as recorded in John 3: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

So, if the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, we will turn from darkness (sin, wickedness) to light (Jesus, truth, righteousness) and from the control of sin and Satan over our lives to making Jesus Christ Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and we will come underneath the control of our Lord and his righteousness. And, in this way, we receive forgiveness of sins and we are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (see Acts 26:18; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

 

But this is not a one-time experience. This is what we must be doing in practice every day, saying “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return (Titus 2:11-14), and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:5-9). And we must be walking by the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, and sin must not be what we practice (Gal 5:16-21).

 

For, if we continue to walk by the flesh, in deliberate and habitual sin, we will die in our sins, and we will not have eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

 

Know the Hope

 

Now, this is where it gets sticky because there are so many people teaching a half-truth (false) gospel message and they are giving the impression that the hope is merely having our sins forgiven, escaping hell, and the promise of heaven when we die. But we are not called to believe in Jesus just so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die.

 

Our hope to which we have been called, which is the “Good News,” is that because of what Jesus did on that cross in becoming sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him, we can be set free from our slavery (addiction, bondage) to sin, we can live victoriously over sin, and we can, in the power of God, walk in holiness and righteousness in obedience to our Lord and in surrender to his will for our lives.

 

And we can have this really super awesome relationship with Almighty God, for Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can be in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ whereby he directs our paths, and he guides us in the way we should go, and he empowers us to say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God and to his righteousness. And we can be used of him in the lives of others to minister to them his love and grace, and that is just wonderful!

 

But there are caveats – warnings, cautions, admonitions, limitations, and stipulations and requirements. Yes, our salvation is a free gift, but that free gift is freedom from our slavery to sin and it is empowerment to live holy and godly lives. So we must walk in that freedom and we must walk in the power of God in living godly and holy and morally pure lives. If we do not, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will die in our sins, instead.

 

The Greatness of His Power

 

The greatness of God’s power to us who believe is first of all that he is our maker, he knows us inside and out, he had a plan for our lives before he even laid the foundation of the world, and he is absolutely and positively fully sovereign and in control over all that he has made. Satan can do nothing without God’s permission, and if God allows it, he will carry us through it, just like he did for Job and for the prophets and Paul, etc.

 

He has already made the way of escape for us from temptation to sin. We just have to take the way he made for us. He is the one who delivers us from our slavery to sin, but we have to cooperate with him by doing what he says to do. As believers in Jesus we already have the power within us to overcome Satan and sin. We just have to tap into that power and then say “NO!” to sin and “YES!” to God moment by moment, one step at a time.

 

But then we have to walk in obedience to our Lord. Many people try to put off or to resist sin while they still play with sin and while they are not building their relationships with the Lord. We can all do behavioral modification to a point, but what is in our hearts is eventually going to lead us right back down the same sinful path if our lives are not committed to following Jesus and if we are not walking by his Spirit.

 

Unless You Are Born Again

 

An Original Work / November 3, 2013

Based off John 3:1-21

 

Nicodemus came to Jesus.

He acknowledged God was with Him.

Jesus said, “You can’t see heaven

Unless you are born again.”

 

“How can a man be born when he’s old?

Can he enter into his mother’s womb?”

Jesus answered, “Flesh is flesh,

So of the Spirit, you must be.”

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus,

“You’re a teacher, and yet you don’t

Understand of what I tell you,

Because you will not believe.

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave

His one and His only Son for your sin.

So, whoever believes in Him

Has eternal life in heav’n.

 

“Light has come into the world,

But human beings love the darkness,

Because their deeds are so evil,

So in truth, they stand condemned.

 

“Everyone who practices evil

Fears that the Light will expose his sin.

Yet, whoever lives his life by the Light

Does so through his God.”

 

https://vimeo.com/114686371

Have You Obtained This Inheritance?

 Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV

 

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

 

Who are “We”?

 

We are those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, but so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. So we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. If we don’t, we will not inherit eternal life.

 

Therefore, we are not to let sin reign (rule, be in control) in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for sin is to no longer have dominion over us. Instead, we are to no longer walk according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit. For, if sin is what we obey, it ends in death, but if we are obeying the Lord, it ends in eternal life with God. So, we are to be people who are putting off the deeds of the flesh and who are walking in obedience to our Lord in surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.

 

So, we have only obtained this inheritance if we have first died with Christ to sin, and we have been raised with Christ to newness of life in him, and now we are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. For if we walk (in practice, in conduct) in sin, according to the flesh, we will die in our sins. But if we walk according to the Spirit, then we have that inheritance as long as we continue in Christ steadfast in our faith in walks of obedience to him and in surrender of our lives to him to the very end.

 

[Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 5:9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:1-5; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Jas 1:21-25; Eph 4:17-24]

 

We’ve Obtained an Inheritance

 

We who are dying to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to him, have obtained an inheritance. For we were predestined by God according to his purpose and according to his expressed will for our lives which we can learn about by reading Matthew thru Revelation, word by word, in context, prayerfully, and with a full desire and intention to obey our Lord in doing what his word teaches that we as followers of Christ must do.

 

You have not obtained this inheritance if you have not died with Christ to sin and if you are not living to him and to his righteousness, but you are continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against God. No amount of words you say with your lips in the way of a confession of faith in Jesus Christ, if not followed with obedience to the Lord and the forsaking of your sins, will result in you obtaining this inheritance by God’s grace, through faith.

 

And these are not my words. This is what God’s word teaches (see verse references above). So, you can’t claim this inheritance for yourself if you do not meet God’s requirements for receiving that inheritance. Those who are to receive this inheritance are predestined according to God’s purpose and will for our lives, which is that we live godly, upright and holy lives in obedience to our Lord and in the forsaking of our sin until the very end.

 

And we are to be for the praise of his glory. It is not for the praise of his glory if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin and if we feel as though we do not have to repent of our sins or obey the Lord or submit to him as Lord of our lives. How is that glorifying God? It is not! It is insulting God and his grace when we continue in willful sin and we snub God and his will for our lives. It is only for his praise and glory when we die with him to sin and we live to him and to his righteousness in his power and strength.

 

The Guarantee of our Inheritance

 

Many people pull this out of context and they say that because they “believed” in Jesus Christ they are now sealed and heaven is guaranteed them no matter how they live or how much they sin. But we have to read this in context, not only in this chapter, but in the whole book of Ephesians, and in the context of the whole of Scripture, particularly the New Testament.

 

For belief in Jesus Christ is not just words we say. Faith comes from God and is authored by Jesus and is perfected by Jesus and is gifted to us by God and it is not of ourselves. So this faith must align with God’s word, with his will and purpose for our lives, and with the meaning of faith which means to be persuaded of God. And God will persuade us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness as slaves of righteousness, no longer as slaves to sin. For this is the purpose for which Jesus died.

 

If we have genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ which is being lived out in our daily walks, which is evidence that our faith is of God, and that it is genuine faith, we do have this hope of eternal life with God. But the Scriptures are quite clear that we must continue in that faith, steadfast, in walks of obedience, and not in sin, until the very end, or we will not inherit eternal life with God. So, please take this to heart.

 

Jesus said this: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt 7:21-23).

 

Glorious Grace 

 

An Original Work / August 8, 2012

Based off Ephesians 1:3-10 NIV

 

Praise be to God, the Father of Jesus,

Who has blessed us in heavenly realms.

For He chose us in Him from beginning

To be His holy children of God;

All in accord with His will and pleasure;

To the praise of His glorious grace.

 

In Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness.

We have redemption through His shed blood.

Glorious grace God freely has given us

In the One He loves and adores;

All in accord with the riches of His grace

Which He pours out on those He loves.

 

With all His wisdom and understanding,

God has made known His will unto us,

According to His will and good pleasure,

Purposed in Christ till all be fulfilled;

To bring all things on earth and in heaven

Under our Lord Christ; be unified.

 

https://vimeo.com/119441766

Faithful in Christ Jesus

Ephesians 1:1-2 ESV

 

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

As we read through this passage of Scripture today I want us to pay close attention to the words and phrases used here, for these words are chosen for a reason. First of all, I want us to see who this is being addressed to. This is being addressed to the saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

 

Now, the saints are not people chosen by a particular religious organization for sainthood after they are dead. They are God’s holy people who have been called out of the world to be followers of Jesus Christ, to do the will of God. They are (unlike) different from the world because they are being conformed the likeness of Jesus Christ.

 

They are also faithful in Christ Jesus. And faithful means full of faith, reliable, trustworthy, loyal to the faith which God supplies. For this faith comes from God, and Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith, and we can’t even come to faith in Jesus unless God the Father draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to be delivered out of our slavery to sin so that we can now walk in obedience to his commands.

 

And since this faith comes from God and is authored by Jesus, and is perfected by Jesus, then this faith will submit to God’s will and purpose for our lives. Thus, by faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Thus we, by God’s grace, forsake our lives of sin to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands.

 

[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19-20; Eph 1:4; Eph 2:21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 1:9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Tit 2:14; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-32]

 

Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

 

Now, many people today teach this passage of Scripture without the context of the first verse which tells us who the “us” is referring to, and they end up applying this broadly to anyone making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But since so many professions of faith today are not true conversions to Jesus Christ and to his plan of salvation for our lives, we can’t just apply this to anyone who says he believes in Jesus. Even the demons believe, and they shudder, but not one of them is saved and bound for heaven.

 

This blessing is being given to the saints who are the faithful in Christ Jesus, to those who have died with Christ to sin and who are living to God and to his righteousness, who are living separate from the world and unto God, and who are dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to Jesus Christ. They are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, for God chose them before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him, but not just as a status, but in practice, in lifestyle, by the grace of God.

 

And we are adopted as his children, not according to our will, but according to his purpose and will and to the praise of his glorious grace. And his will for us is that we die with him to sin and that we walk in obedience to his commands. Now there are a lot of people praising what they believe is God’s grace for they feel that God no longer looks at their sin or if they do sin their sins are automatically forgiven, or if they admit that they sinned they believe they are forgiven.

 

But God’s grace frees us from slavery to sin and it empowers us to live righteously in obedience to our Lord. And it instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. The free gift is not freedom to keep on sinning only now without guilt. The free gift is freedom from addiction to sin so that we can walk in holiness and righteousness.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23]

 

Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV

 

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

 

Again, apply this to verse one. We are those who are set apart from the world to God and to his service. We are called out of the world to be separate (unlike, different) from the world, to be followers of Jesus Christ, and to do the will of God. Those of us who are faithful to God submit to his will and purposes for our lives, we forsake our lives of living in sin and for self, and now we deny self, die daily to sin, and by the grace of God, and in his strength and power, we walk in obedience to our Lord.

 

We are the redeemed, those whom Jesus bought back for God with his blood that we might now honor God with our bodies. We have forgiveness of sins. Jesus will not count our past sins against us, and we have now been given a new lease on life in which we are to live free from the control of sin and in which we are to live in holiness and righteousness in obedience to our Lord. And if we want to have this continued cleansing of our sins we must now walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

 

And his grace which he lavishes on us is not freedom to now sin without guilt. The grace he gives us empowers us to now walk in holiness and righteousness, no longer in slavery to sin, but now as slaves of God and of his righteousness. And if we want that grace to continue we must not make sin our practice, but righteousness is to be our practice, and obedience is to be our practice, and the forsaking of sins is to be our practice.

 

And please know this. God can indeed still see when we sin and he will remind us of our sins if we have not truly repented and if we are living in habitual sin and if we have not truly turned from our sin to follow him in his ways. He chided his people in the Old Testament and even reminded them of their ancestors sins and how their sins were even more grievous than those of their ancestors.

 

And then read the writings of the apostles to the churches. At least half of what they write about is how we need to get sin out of our lives and how we must walk in holiness and righteousness or else we will not inherit eternal life with God. The New Testament is filled with warnings against continued and habitual sin, so God obviously can see the sins of Christians and those who give lip service to him only but who are still living in bondage to sin, for all these matters are addressed in the New Testament Scriptures.

 

So, if you are living in habitual sin and someone points that out to you, and if this person calls you to repentance and to a genuine walk of faith in Jesus Christ, he is not being judgmental or self-righteous. He cares enough about you to tell you the truth. And even if he has forgiven your past sins but you keep repeating the same sins over and over, proving you have not truly turned from your sins, then he is not being unforgiving, either, if he points out to you that your sins are habitual and need to be cast out.

 

So, believe what God says about your sin. If sin is what you practice, you will not inherit eternal life with God. But if righteousness is what you practice, and if obedience is what you practice, by God’s Spirit, then you do have eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

 

For Our Nation 

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

I Will Not Be Quiet

Isaiah 62:1-3 ESV

 

“For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

    and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

    and her salvation as a burning torch.

The nations shall see your righteousness,

    and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

    that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

 

Zion is now Jesus Christ. But Zion is also his church, the ekklesia, the whole body of believers in Jesus Christ. We are the people of God called out from the world and to God and into His eternal kingdom. The English word “church” means “belonging to the Lord.” We are God’s possession, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are zealous for good works. For Jesus Christ bought us back for God (he redeemed us) with his blood.

 

[Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19-20; Eph 1:4; Eph 2:21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 1:9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Titus 2:11-14]

 

For Zion’s Sake

 

So, if I were to say these words today, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,” it would mean that I will be speaking what the Lord gives me to say for the sake of his church, the body of Christ, and I will not keep silent with regard to the messages from God’s Word that she needs to hear.

 

And the reason I will not keep silent (or quiet) is because so much of what is called “church” today is not actually “the ekklesia.” The vast majority of what is called “church” here in America are businesses of men, corporations of the state, which are largely following man-made teachings on how to conduct and to grow their churches, and which are teaching them how to market their ”churches” to the world in order to draw in large crowds of people.

 

So, even though they are called “church,” and they may even have genuine followers of Jesus among them, they in themselves are not “the church, the ekklesia.” They are businesses being marketed to the world just like any other businesses and their products. And since their “target audience” is the world, they have altered the meaning of “church” to be more of a social gathering of people interested in encouraging talks and enjoyable music who want a comfortable atmosphere where they won’t feel judged or offended.

 

Thus, these man-made businesses called “church” have largely altered the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more appealing and acceptable to the world. So, they have also largely removed God’s requirements for repentance (forsaking one’s sins), for obedience to the Lord and to his commands, and for submission to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master). And some are even vilifying these requirements for salvation set down by God.

 

Too Many Lies

 

So, they are lying to the people with BIG FAT LIES which are promising them heaven while they are sending them to hell. And the lies appear to be increasing as some teachings on the gospel are not even half-truth gospels anymore, for they don’t even resemble the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, there are teachers out there telling people that God is just so enamored with us humans that he just wants to hang out with us.

 

But they have it all backwards. They are turning light for darkness and darkness for light, and evil is being spoken of as good, and good is being spoken of as evil. For example they see the true gospel as saying that people can believe (not defined) in Jesus and now be forgiven of their sins and have eternal life with God regardless of how they live from that moment forward. And this while they also vilify the true gospel which tells people they must repent, obey, and submit to Christ as Lord.

 

Some people who teach the lies may do so innocently, but not if they are reading their Bibles which they are supposed to be doing if they are supposed to be teaching the Scriptures. But many of these preachers and teachers are wolves in sheep’s clothing who are masquerading as servants of righteousness but who are devils in disguise. For what they are teaching is of the devil, and it is against God, and it saves no one but it deceives and manipulates the truth, and thus they are leading people to their deaths.

 

The Elephant in The Room

 

And this is not being talked about much at all, although there are people who are aware this is taking place, but they are not speaking up about it. It is kind of like “the elephant in the room,” which is obviously present but avoided as a subject because it is more comfortable to not talk about it and you will be more accepted if you don’t talk about it. But it has to be talked about because many people are buying into the BIG LIE and they are counting on heaven as their eternal destiny when it isn’t.

 

So, it needs to be discussed in the gatherings of what is called “church” because it is destroying the lives of people by the thousands and maybe even the millions or greater. We should not, in good conscience, just ignore this situation or not talk about it because people are not comfortable talking about it. For if we really love the body of Christ and our fellow humans, we should be voices of truth and hope and healing and not those who support the lies or who refuse to confront the lies with the truth of God’s Word.

 

We should care so much that people are dying and going to hell on a false promise of heaven when they die, so that we will speak up, even if we are hated and rejected and falsely accused in return. We should keep speaking the truth until we see the church in America (apply it to where you live) be revived and on fire for the Lord and walking in holiness and in righteousness. For right now, it is barely distinguishable between the American church and the world. But we are supposed to stand out as different from the world.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

For Our Nation  

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

Don't Refuse HIM Who is Speaking

Hebrews 12:25-29 ESV

 

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

 

In Context

 

The context here is that of instructions to the church, to Christians to forsake their sins, to cast them off in order to follow Jesus Christ in his ways, according to his commands, and to live holy and godly lives, pleasing to the Lord. For this is the race that God has set before us to run with endurance. And Jesus, who went before us, is our example to us of the kind of life that we are to live in holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord.

 

And, if we are living in this way, we will also be hated and persecuted like Jesus was, but we are to not give way to fear, and we are not to retreat back into sin because we are being illtreated for our walks of faith in Jesus Christ. We are to follow Jesus’ example to us in how to endure unjust suffering at the hands of our enemies, and we are to keep on walking in obedience to our Lord despite all opposition against us.

 

And we are to see this unjust treatment at the hands of our enemies as God’s discipline in our lives for the purpose to train us in righteousness and holiness and to purify us and to mature us in our walks of faith. Yet, this does not mean that if a fellow Christian is doing evil against us that we remain silent. There are steps we are to take in this case, and ultimately, if the person does not repent, we are to tell it to the church, and the church is supposed to correct the person.

 

Nonetheless, that is not happening much at all in today’s modern market-driven “churches,” which are in the majority. For they are not following that teaching of Scripture or a lot of teachings of Scripture, and so they are coddling people in their sins and they are allowing unrepentant sinners to serve in positions within the church of spiritual influence and leadership and as people who are supposed to be leading others to worship God.

 

But that isn’t really much different from what Jesus faced, for the Pharisees were hypocrites who paraded themselves as servants of righteousness but who were secretly engaged in all sorts of evil, and who were wronging other people. And Jesus definitely took the right steps in confronting them with their sins, even publicly, because they did wield enormous influence over the people. But in return they just mistreated him and then they plotted and assured that his death was carried out, but God had a purpose for it all.

 

So, in this passage of Scripture we are encouraged to endure discipline for the sake of righteousness, which is for our good that we may share in God’s holiness and that it might later yield in us the peaceful fruit of righteousness, which is for those who have been trained to live godly lives through their trials and tribulations and persecutions. And we are encouraged to not fear but to walk faithfully in the ways of the Lord in obedience to him.

 

Don’t Refuse Him

 

We have two choices in this life. We can either be daily surrendering our lives to God, forsaking our sins, and following Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands, or we cannot be surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ, and not be forsaking our sins, and not be following Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. The first is what faith is. The second is unbelief. And it is all in what we practice for what we practice is what we truly believe.

 

And just let me say here that if your lifestyle is that of sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, confess, but nothing ever changes, because your heart has not changed, and so you keep deliberately and habitually repeating the same sins over again with the same lame excuses for why you are not yet free from your addiction to sin, and while still blaming others for your sins, then that is not forsaking your sins, and it is not obeying your Lord.

 

For, the Scriptures are quite clear on this subject. If sin is what we practice, i.e. if we keep on deliberately and habitually committing acts of sexual immorality, adultery, lying, cheating, stealing, hating, and willfully mistreating and abusing others, etc., heaven is NOT our eternal destiny! Hell is, no matter what people might be telling you otherwise. For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).

 

And we are warned in Hebrews 3-4 and in 1 Corinthians 10 against the same things we are being warned against here, that we not refuse our Lord who is speaking his truth to our hearts, and that we not follow the same course as the children of Israel did, who kept on in their sinful rebellion against the Lord, which was disobedience, and which was unbelief, according to God.

 

They did not enter into God’s eternal rest. They did not have eternal life with God. They were God’s children in name only, but not in walks of faith and obedience. And the same will happen to us if we follow their example.

 

So, being grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken is not thanking the Lord that your sins are forgiven so that you can keep on in your deliberate and habitual sins. It is not just admitting sin each time you sin and then thanking the Lord for his forgiveness, as though he forgives unrepentant sin. He does not! If that sin is your habit, and that is what you keep going back to, you are not truly repentant, for nothing has changed.

 

If we are truly grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, we will offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, which is not some emotional experience we go through by singing “praise and worship songs.” For our acceptable worship of God is to give our lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. And it is for us to no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world because our minds and hearts have been transformed by God’s Spirit away from sin to obedience to God.

 

And why must we offer to God ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP, with reverence and awe? Because our God is a consuming fire. And this was said to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. For our faith is not some words we say or a one-time experience, but it is our walks of obedience to our Lord and it is us, by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, saying “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions, and living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return.

 

So, don’t be fooled. God is not mocked. Whatsoever we sow, that shall we also reap. Please take this to heart, and please surrender to Jesus today!

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Blessed Assurance 

 

Frances J Crosby, 1873

Phoebe P Knapp, 1873

 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

 

Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

 

Perfect submission, all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blest,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

 

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior, all the day long;

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior, all the day long.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPVt__1i3ZY

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